Tomorrow When The War Began: Wherever We Go Darkness Will Follow
by Blaire-Hammond
Summary: A spanner has been thrown in the works when Lee doesn't show up after blowing up the controll houses. Homer, Robyn and Ellie go back into Wirrawee to find him, closely followed by Fi. But will Chris's death shake them up that much that they wont be able to save Lee? And maybe even get captured themselves? Is this the end of the road for Ellie and the others? Read on to find out.
1. Chapter 1

I crouched in the bushes, watching as Homer crossed the road carefully ahead of me. He dived into the bushes on the other side of the road, slowly turned, and gave me the signal indicating he was safe. Then it was my turn.

I slowly stood from my crouching position, stretching my right leg as I did. Quietly, I snuck forward, and almost got run over. Standing openly, and most vulnerable on the side walk, I looked to the left, and saw two soldiers walking along it straight for me. I froze.

They continued heading in my direction, talking in their own language. They hadn't seen me. Not yet. I sunk back into the trees and hid behind the biggest bush I could see. Crouching behind it, I watched as they approached the spot where I had been standing.

I could see them, yet they could not see me, I hoped. I could hear them, but they could not hear me. I could smell them, and I really hoped they could not smell me, though it wouldn't surprise me considering the last shower I had was almost a month ago. These were the only advantages I had. If I needed to, I could take them by surprise. As they came closer and closer I began to notice something.

They were drunk. I could tell by the way they walked and how sloppy and slurred their words were. A fun night out at the pub I'd say! That sickened me; to think they're out having fun, drinking and acting like this was their home, acting like they were safe, that nothing could harm them and they had successfully taken over this land, and here we were, struggling to even survive.

I sucked in my breath as I realized I had lost sight of them.

'_Where are they_?! _They were right there_!' I thought, beginning to panic in my mind.

Thankfully my body hadn't yet connected to the panic in my mind otherwise I would be a mess.

Frantically, I looked around, but saw no trace of them. I still hadn't let out my breath. And suddenly I chocked on the air, coughing loudly. That was it. I was done. They would get me for sure now. I closed my eyes sinking down into the ground. But no one came.

I looked up and slowly came to the edge of the bush. The two soldiers were walking along the path up ahead, almost completely out of sight. They hadn't even heard me.

I sighed the biggest sigh of relief and rubbed my chest. I stood up straight, looked to the left and right, making sure that this time, the path was clear. Then I darted across the road and dived into the bushes. Homer lay in the bushes beside me.

'That was close' He murmured.

I nodded then gave the signal to Robyn that I was then, in one swift leap, jumped out onto the road, looked around, then raced into the bushes laying in the leaves beside Homer and I. We all looked up, making sure no one was around, then got into the crouching position and started running along the tree line up towards the school.

The school looked like the only safe place at the moment. As we approached the canteen area on the edge of the school grounds, I noticed a small movement out the corner of my eye. I stopped my body tensing. Homer sensed my tenseness and stopped looking in the direction I had focused my eyes on.

He saw the movement as well and put out an arm stopping Robyn from moving. We slowly got down flat on the ground and crawled back into the bushes on the side of the canteen building. We hid under the underbrush and watched as the movement became more noticeable.

All 3 of us sat staring at it, waiting for it to come into the moonlight so we could see what it was. But it stayed down behind the benches. I looked at Homer and could see he was straining his eyes to see what it was.

Suddenly whatever it was moved out a tad into the light, giving anyone a clear shot. I could tell it was human. Homer felt into his bag for his gun. I looked at him, shocked, as he raised it and pointed it straight at the person. I looked closer, squinting my eyes to see if my thoughts were correct. Something about the way they stood up a tad looked familiar. I stood up right as Homer was placing his finger on the trigger.

'LEE?!' I yelled stepping out of the bush. He moved in my direction, looking at me.

'Ellie?' he asked. I ran towards him, my heart beating almost right out of my chest.

We hadn't seen Lee in 3 weeks.I jumped into his arms embracing him in a huge hug.

'Lee! Oh Lee we thought they had captured you!' I held on to him so tightly. I didn't want to let him out of my arms.

There was no way I could cope if he went missing again.

'Ellie?! How the hell did you know that was Lee?' Homer hissed coming forward to where we were. Robyn ran up, giving Lee a hug as I stepped back to answer Homers question.

'I would recognize him anywhere.'

Homer shook his head. 'It's good to have you back Lee.' He said looking at Lee was staring into the distance, behind Homer. I followed his gaze. My eyes widened.

'Run!' I hissed turning and running straight for the office doors that were connected to the canteen.


	2. Chapter 2

A car had been slowing down, driving along the road that passed the school. Not just any car though. A patrol car. Looking for anyone out there like us.

I tugged frantically at the doors but they were locked. Homer pulled his jumper off and put it up against the window and in one swift movement, hit it with his fist, knocking the glass out. It made a hell of a noise! I spun round checking if the patrol car had stopped or could see us.

The coast was clear as far as I could see. Quickly and carefully we pulled all the jagged bits of glass from the window. The only thing that was hiding us from sight of the road was the benches and a small wall. But it was a matter of seconds before the patrol car would pass the wall and see us.

'Robyn first!' Homer whispered, lifting Robyn through the window.

She wriggled through and gracefully landed on both feet on the ground, then moved all the glass out of the way of the window so we didn't stand on it, once again, she was thinking about others instead of herself. I had a lot of respect for her.

I went next, but my climb through the window wasn't as graceful as Robyn's had been. I helped Lee struggle through, trying to make sure he didn't fall on his head. Homer followed him, diving straight through and landing on his stomach. We finished pulling all the bits of glass out of the small wooden window so it would look like glass was actually in it, then hurried along into one of the empty classrooms.

We chose the small art room. It had only a few small windows and a store room that had a back exit and no windows at all, it would be good in case we needed to escape quickly.

We hid down behind the teacher's desk right as we saw the lights from the patrol car shine through the 5 low windows that stretched across the front of the room, as it passed by. The lights started to fade and the noise of the car began to disappear, indicating that the patrol was gone.

'How often do you think they will come past?' Homer asked no one in particular.

'Every 30 minutes usually. I've been hiding in the bushes, watching them but I needed food. That's the only reason I came out. I didn't even notice you guys out in the bush.' Lee said.

I realized that he probably hadn't had much food for the past 3 weeks! Feeling around in my pack I pulled out a small packet of vita-wheat biscuits and passed them to him. Straight away he tore away the packet and devoured the biscuits in seconds.

'Lee, what exactly have you been doing for the past 3 weeks?' I asked, wondering to myself how he hadn't been captured.

We sat back in more of a comfortable position and made sure it was safe, then, with Homer sitting a little higher up, on watch, we listened to Lee's story.

'Well, I guess I should start with the night of attack on the houses. I had caught up with you and Fi, as you know, and then I remember riding along beside you towards Mrs Alexandra's house, like we had all agreed, but when I looked to the left to where you and Fi had been, you were both suddenly gone. So I stopped and looked around trying to get a glimpse of you. But I couldn't see anyone. Everything was quiet. Then there was another explosion from one of the houses, Homers I assume it was, and debris and flames were flying everywhere! I was still close, so I started peddling like mad towards where I thought our meeting place was. Burning hot bits of the house were landing on me, raining down on me like a shower. Unfortunately I must have taken a wrong turn and because I was in such a panic to find you and to not get hit by anything I ended riding right into a patrol that were heading out to check what was going on at the houses up on the hill.' Lee hesitated, cringing. And that's when I noticed the bruises and burns on his arms and legs.


	3. Chapter 3

'What did they do to you?!' I asked, shocked, taking his arm and looking at just how bad the cuts and burns were.

Straight away I felt around in my pack for the first aid kit we always carried with us. I knew they would have more stuff somewhere in the school, so I promised myself that as soon as it was safe I would go find it. I set to work on putting creams and bandages on his arms and legs as he continued on with his story.

'They grabbed me and all I remember of that night is getting kicked and beat around the street by the patrol. They were screaming and shouting all sorts of things but the only thing I could understand of what they were saying was 'You do this?!' Then I woke up in the Wirrawee hospital.

No one was around and I tried to get up but I was in too much pain. I ended up staying there for 8 days. They had beaten me pretty hard, I assume, from the amount of pain I had! The place felt empty. The only person I saw was a nurse once each day, who came in and changed the food tray and check on my burns and cuts. But there was no one else around that I heard or saw.

By the ninth day the pain had almost gone and I was feeling a lot better, so after the nurse made her visit, I made my escape. They are pretty slack in the hospital. If you act sick they don't worry about you and it's pretty easy to get out. I carefully walked down the corridor and headed around to the emergency exit. No one was around, so I opened the door and made a run for the bushes. That's probably how these got so bad.' Lee pointed at his burns and cuts 'Because I've been stuck in the bushes for the past 12 days.

I tried to head back to Hell, but every time I try to work my way around the outside of Wirrawee to get to the bush that would lead to Hell I'd either run into patrols and have to turn back so they don't catch me, or I run out of energy and have to rest. I've made it as far as the school. They even sent out a small search party searching for me at one stage. But I think they gave up. They know what I look like now though, so they know who to look for.

They've got patrols everywhere. They're really scared about this attack and are really buckling down. So I guess we've done our job well.'

Homer smiled at me, obviously satisfied that we had given them a scare.

'Seeing how scared it made them makes getting beat up almost worth it.' Lee nodded to himself, then flinched as I smothered the biggest cut in cream.

He sighed. 'That feels better. They have been so painful.'

I looked up at him. 'You're lucky. They are close to infection.'

Lee shivered. 'So what happened with you guys since the attack?' He asked looking around.

'Well,' I began, 'I remember Fi and I riding along and when we got to the Alexander's house we realized that you weren't behind us. Robyn showed up and we decided to wait and see if maybe you had just fallen behind. So we waited, and waited, and waited. But no one came.'

I started doing up another bandage and Homer took over in telling the story.

'I came there around 4-5am, and it was lucky I did! Because those girls without a man around, they wouldn't be able to cope!' Homer winked at me and Robyn gave him a little punch in the arm.

Lee grinned. 'So, with a great helpful man around, I decided that we should all head around to the shed to wait and see if you would show up. Well, we sat around for a while, me entertaining everyone with a fun game of guess who, but it was starting getting light and we all agreed that if you were captured there was nothing we could do in the day light, so we headed back to Ellie's place and got the Landrover.

With me, obviously the best driver, behind the wheel we headed around to a few of the neighboring property's to have a poke around for some more food and supplies. We were getting really low.' Homer paused and Robyn gave a little sniffle.

'That was when we found Chris's body.' Robyn said, tears welling up in her eyes.

'Oh god..' Lee said, absolutely horrified.

Homer continued his tone serious, his face expressionless, 'He had been in some sort of car accident. He was drunk. And he rolled the car. We all agreed that he deserved a good burial so we took his body into Hell and buried him. After a few days, of moping around all depressed, Ellie, Robyn and I decided to come back into Wirrawee to try to find you. Fi couldn't bring herself to leave Chris's grave, but after a few days she caught up with us at Kevin's place.

We took the small bikes into town but ditched them in one of the dams outside of town, then headed into Robyn's house to rest, though of course, me being the man and all, I didn't need rest, so I went out that night and had a look at Mrs Alexanders house to see if you did end up showing up there. But you weren't there so I headed back. The next night we came back in and searched around for you but we honestly didn't know where to look. We watched the Show Grounds for a few days, hoping we would see you, but you weren't in there. So we came around to check the Hospital. But you must have left right as we came in because you weren't their either. And I have to agree with you on the Hospital being pretty slack. We got in pretty easily and getting out was a breeze! So we decided to hang around at the Show Grounds for a while.

Ellie and I really wanted to come have another look for you and Robyn couldn't bare another day of watching how the soldiers were treating our friends and family, so we left Fi to keep a watch on the Show Grounds while we looked for you. We remembered the school and decided to check it out to see if maybe you were here. And you were. My god if Ellie hadn't noticed it was you I would have pulled that trigger.'

Lee flinched again, but this time at the thought of what Homer had just said.

'You're lucky Ellie knows you so well.' He added.

I continued bandaging his leg, not saying anything.

'What about Corrie and Kevin? Have you seen or heard anything about them?' I asked Lee suddenly.

He shook his head. 'I was about to ask you the same thing. There was nothing said about them around Wirrawee or in the hospital.'

I dropped my head in sadness. 'Let's just hope they're both still battling on.' I mumbled.

Homer suddenly ducked down. 'The patrols coming back.' He whispered.


	4. Chapter 4

We all ducked down and waited for it to drive past. The lights shone through the windows, and the noise got louder. We could smell the fumes from the car wafting through the gaps in the windows. Diesel. We waited as the lights started to disappear. Homer sat up.

'It's gone.' We all sat back up and I finished off bandaging Lee's leg.

'Alright, I'm going to go to the first aid room and find some more they have stuff in the office and staff room as well do you think?' I asked looking at the other 3. Lee shrugged.

'Yes, I think they do in the staff room, dunno about the office though.' Robyn said.

'Okay, I will be back soon.'

I headed out the door and down the corridor. I turned left and walked past all our old lockers. It felt weird, looking at how empty and lifeless these halls were. It felt so big and lonely. Usually there would be hundreds of students crowding through the halls, talking, laughing, mucking around. It felt like such a long time ago. But in reality, it was only a few months ago.

I thought for a minute and remembered I kept Panadol in my locker. Quickly, I hurried down the corridor to the year 11 locker area. I found my locker, number 68, and I put in the combination, opening the door. It squeaked, as usual. Even that little squeak brought back memories of the many times Steve or Homer or Corrie had walked up and pulled my locker door open the whole way to talk to me.

All my stuff was still in there; my books, everything. It gave me a funny feeling, looking at it. At what life used to be like. I grabbed the small bag that had my Panadol, Band-Aids and first aid materials in it and shut the locker, then continued on my way towards the first aid room.

There was so much stuff in there that we needed. I grabbed a bag from the broom closet and just stuffed everything into it. We may as well stock up. Who knows when the next chance to get these sorts of supplies would come along.

The office didn't have anything in there but the staff room sure did, like Robyn had said. I filled the bag up to the top. It would make such a difference to have this stuff. When I was satisfied I had got everything I thought we would need I headed back to the others.

They were all pleased at my jackpot find. We spread them out through our packs so everything would fit, then with our packs on our backs and Lee's arms and leg bandages secure, we headed around to the exit, back through the window.

We wanted to get back to the Show Grounds, collect Fi, and be back at Kevin's that night and it was nearly 1 am so we thought we'd better get a move on. We hid under the window as the patrol went past for the third time, then we jumped through the window and hurried along through the bush, following the same method we had used when we came in.

Homer led us around to the Show Grounds, which weren't that far away from the school. Fi was waiting where we had left her, in the bushes at the corner of the Show Grounds.

'Lee!' Fi whispered excitedly.

'Did anything happen here?' Homer asked as Fi finished embracing Lee in a hug. Fi stepped back, hiding behind a tree, and shook her head.

'No, not really. Just more people getting yelled at or taken to that room. I saw your Mum though Homer. She looks okay. Really skinny and frail like all the other women, but she looks okay.'

We all looked at Homer. His expression changed from one of determinedness to one of worry.

'Are you sure she was fine? No limps? Or big cuts? Or any injuries? What about Dad? Did you see him? Where was she? Did any soldiers hurt her?'

'Homer, Homer, calm down, keep your voice down. She was fine. A soldier lead her to the toilet then back to the tent. She didn't look to have any injury. I didn't see your Dad. But your Mum is fine.' Fi said stepping forward and giving Homer a hug of reassurance. He smiled a little in appreciation.

'Okay. I trust your judgment Fi. Now let's just get out of here. I can't bear staying in town for another night.'

We took our leave, right as the chance was given. A break in the soldier's routine was what we were waiting for and finally, a break was what we got. The sentries were released and we had 2 minutes to make a run for it before the next group clocked on. Quickly, quietly, and well alert, we ran along the tree line towards the road that lead out to Robyn's.

Suddenly there was a shout. Then something whizzed past me.


	5. Chapter 5

A bullet.

'Oh gosh!' I heard Fi sequel.

'Run!' I yelled.

And boy did we run. I kept running, no matter how much my lungs hurt. No matter how badly I was rasping for air or coughing or chocking, I kept going.

I could tell that Homer was struggling as much as me, but it was like we couldn't stop running even if we wanted to. Lee was fine, I could see him up ahead, and Robyn was way in front.

I could see Fi out to my right, coughing and holding her chest as she ran. Our legs moved like a cheaters. I thought for sure we would run out of energy, but no, we kept moving.

I took a glance behind me, and knew that that was the worst decision I had ever made. Eight soldiers were firing at us. Bullets were whizzing past us in all directions. And a car was being backed out of the Show Grounds.

We reached the road we had been running for and started running full speed along it. It was amazing that I somehow found a boost in my body that made me go faster. Maybe the horror of what I saw or the frightening thought of falling behind had something to do with it. Homer glanced behind him after seeing my reaction.

'The car's coming! Everyone get off the road!' He yelled.

We split, Fi and I going to the right, Homer, Lee and Robyn going to the left.

'Run into that backyard, climb the fence and find your way back to Kevin's. We will meet you there!' Homer yelled across to us.

Fi and I were frightened. Not only for our safety but for theirs. What if we never saw them again?! But we couldn't allow ourselves to worry about them yet, because at this moment, we needed to focus on just making it out alive.

We don't like to use the words out loud, but Fi said it straight forward to me.

'Ellie I'm scared...'

'Fi, it's okay, come on, follow me.'

I lead Fi around to the back of whoever's house yard we had just run into. The Smith's I think it was. We ran straight for the back fence. I grabbed onto the edge of the fence and using my boots to try to get grip on the fence I climbed up and lifted my right leg over. I sat and helped Fi up. She swung both legs over and jumped down, landing on both feet. I lifted my left leg over the fence and jumped down, following her through the second yard.

We came out the other side on Coachman's lane, a little down past Robyn's house. Then we just ran for it. We didn't know if anyone was following us. But we ran though the paddocks, just in case. Out of nowhere we heard a small humming sound.

'A helicopter!' I yelled to Fi.

We crouched down and started running in the slightly thicker bush, but really it wasn't enough cover. There was no good enough cover for about another kilometer.

We continued running, speeding up now. The humming was getting louder. I looked up over my right shoulder and could see the faint lights in the distance.

'Fi if we don't hurry it will be right over us before we even make it to the thicker bush.' I half yelled, half gasped, if that's even possible.

'I..I can't go any faster Ellie…I'm so sorry.' Fi panted.

I realized how horrible and pushy I was being. And I felt awful. I ran forward and caught up with Fi, taking her hand.

'It's okay Fi.'

The humming was getting so much closer now. We could even smell the fuel.

'Come on Fi, not far now. Let's make a sprint for it!' I said.

I could see the thick bush up ahead. My chest was in so much pain, my heart beating uncontrollably, my breath was in a ridiculous rhythm, causing sharp pains in my throat every time I sucked in air, and my tongue was dry and swollen.

The helicopter was close now. The noise was deafening and the dust was spiralling in circles around us. Leaves were flying everywhere and the air was almost completely intoxicated with fumes. The helicopters spot light was nearly over us, but we were so close to the bush that I could smell the eucalyptus leaves.

This had now become a race, only in this race, the loser dies.


	6. Chapter 6

We dived into the bush right as the helicopter flew over the top of us. We both scurried down into the earth, hiding ourselves as best as we could. The spot light of the helicopter flew overhead, and continued on to the right of us. Fi lifted her head a little.

'Stay down!' I yelled above the horrendous noise. Leaves danced around us and dust was flying around everywhere. My hair was a tangled mess. Dust was flying into my eyes so I closed them tightly. As if closing my eyes would make everything go away. But of course, things don't work that way. It seemed as though the helicopter hung over us for hours, but it was only a matter of seconds. And suddenly, we heard it lifting up into the air more, and continued on its way, searching for us.

The dust settled and I sat up, looking across at Fi. She looked terrible. But probably no worse than what I looked like.

'Let's get to Kevin's.' I said, standing up and stretching a hand out to her.

She gratefully took it, and together we started carefully walking through the bush towards Kevin's house. We could hear the humming of the helicopter in the distance, but we felt safe in the bush. For the time being anyway.

We didn't make it back to Kevin's until 6:30 am. It was so close to light now that we had to be super careful for the last 3 kilometres. But we got there safe. No one was there. Homer, Lee and Robyn hadn't come back yet. And now that we were safe, we could allow ourselves to worry about them.

'We will wait until tomorrow night. If they aren't back by then, we go out and look for them.' I said.

We set up a spot in the sitting room, closed all the windows, and got some rest. We connected a bell to the front and back door, and the yard gate outside, so that whenever one of the doors or gates were opened the bell would ring, that way it would alert us if someone was coming. Then we got some much needed rest. Though my sleep was troubled and full of worry for Homer, Robyn and Lee, I was sleeping none the less.

I awoke to the sound of scurrying feet along the pavement. I rolled over, under the table and looked at my watch. It was 9 pm. We sure had slept the day away!

I gave Fi a little shake, and then placed my pointer finger on her lips as she opened her eyes. She rolled onto her stomach and listened. She suddenly heard the small noises I could hear. Her eyes widened. The little bell connected to the front gate to the yard went off. That scared the living daylights out of us! We crawled along the floor to the window, then slowly looked through the crack in the curtains, and got the shock of our lives.

It was Homer, Robyn and Lee. I jumped up, running outside.

'You made it!' I said excitedly.  
'Just.' Homer answered, looking worried. 'We need to leave now. And head up to Hell. There is no time to waste. They're following us.'

I glanced out at the road and saw nothing.

'They will be here any minute.' Homer added.

I was worried. We went around the back of Kevin's house, and grabbed the 3 small push bikes we had left there from before we headed into Wirrawee 12 days ago.

Homer dinked Fi and Robyn dinked Lee, giving me a bike to myself. We swapped over numerous times, allowing everyone to have a turn at riding alone. Slowly and quietly, we made our way to Taylors Stich, and down into Hell.

We had escaped another 'almost' capture. Another 'almost' death.

It looked like we were winning this race, but for how much longer? How long until they catch up to us and pass us? How much longer will luck be on our side? How long until we do get captured and even killed? None of us knew the answers to any of these questions.

All we can do is keep fighting, keep taking them by surprise, keep scaring them, keep them on edge by using the advantages we have, keep trying to win this war, and most importantly… keep surviving.


End file.
